Dear Netherlands,
I want to apologise that I have not written much lately. It is because your uni is so demanding! :D And it will be more quiet in the next weeks as well because I am going to Geneva in two weeks and have exams in Nijmegen at the beginning of April. Once they are done, my Erasmus life shall start properly! ;)
So today I want to - again - tell you about how I and other international students experience life in the Netherlands in general and in Nijmegen in particular.
I am excited to tell you that I have started a biweekly column for the international section of our uni magazine "Vox" and my first column is online: http://voxweb.nl/blog/welcome-to-nijmegen
I also talked to a student from Korea and one from China. As I could not include their observations in the article, I wanted to share them with you.
Firstly, they are both very excited to live in Europe now but have to get used to the culture.
The Chinese student was surprised by the bike culture, as she was not used to riding the bike to university or just more generally around the city.
The Korean student was surprised to see that whatever the weather, the Dutch go by bike and hardly anyone uses an umbrella while cycling (and also walking) in the rain.
We have been here für six weeks now. The first three weeks were characterised by cold and snow, the last three weeks by cold, rain and wind. And with that observation I might have found the answer for why the Dutch brave any weather without much ado: the wind would blow your umbrella away. I tried cycling with an umbrella this morning but had to learn that this is not the best idea. I would have been an obstacle for the traffic, all the time struggling with my umbrella and not giving the impression that I am master of the situation. So I arrived at my lecture soaking wet. Luckily, everyone else did as well. ;)
Additionally, my Korean friend was amazed by what he called the "hug culture" in Europe: when people meet their friends on the street, they usually hug or kiss the cheeks as a greeting. For him, it looks lovely and warm and makes him feel loved. He concluded that Koreans (who just bow or shake hands) had to hug more to make this world a warmer place!
Yes, please! People, go out and give free hugs! Let's make this world a kinder, friendlier and warmer place.
Both the Korean and Chinese student still struggle with the language. They are aware that they have to get used to the signs (even important ones) being in Dutch (and not in English as they expected). A Russian friend of mine had to wait for a couple of minutes in front of the bathrooms at uni for someone to come out as she did not know what 'H' and 'D' stood for. :D
The Chinese student and I share the impression that the semester schedule is much tighter than in our home countries where we have two semesters lasting four months each with a long break in between. In the Netherlands the university year is divided up into quarters with an exam period at the end of each quarter. We concluded that this system can push the students to learn faster and more effective.
That's all for now!
I just wish this endless rain will stop eventually and we will have a nice spring here in Nijmegen. The locals keep promising me that Nijmegen is even nicer in the warm weather, so I am looking forward to enjoying some leisure time near the river.
Tot ziens!
Jane
